The present invention relates to the construction of sleeve-type garments for the human body. More particularly, the invention relates to sleeve-type garments which can be used as shirts, blouses, sweaters, jackets, dresses and similar articles of clothing which have a body portion covering at least an upper portion of the torso and sleeve portions each covering at least an upper portion of the arms of the wearer. This invention allows for free range of movement of the arms including raising the arms above the wearer's head such that there is no raising up of the waistband, bunching of material around the shoulder area or pulling of the cuff.
Traditional top garments are designed in a manner which restricts free movement of the arms. Particularly, movement of either arm above the wearer's head produces a raising up of the waistband which exposes a portion of the wearer's torso. Such raising up of the waistband, otherwise known as "ride-up", can be potentially dangerous in certain situations. For example, in a construction, industrial or military setting, such ride-up can expose the body to a hostile environment. Another disadvantage of traditional top garments is bunching of material that occurs between the neck and shoulder when an arm is raised upward above a horizontal plane which extends from each shoulder of the body. As a result of excess material bunching around the shoulder area, less material is available to cover the full arm length. Thus, pulling of the cuff toward the shoulder is another problem associated with prior art top garment designs. Ride-up, bunching and pulling of the cuff occur because traditional top garments are designed with each sleeve extended downward. Some prior art top garments are designed with each sleeve extended outwardly, 180 degrees from each other, in opposite directions from the body. However, with all prior art top garments, any upward movement of the arms above the horizontal plane which extends outwardly from each shoulder, causes distortion of the top garment in the form of ride-up, bunching of material around the shoulder and pulling of the cuff. Traditional top garments are restrictive because arm movements which extend the sleeves above shoulder level reduce comfort and distort the shape of the garment.
Prior art top garments have sought to alleviate the problem of ride-up, bunching of material near the shoulders and pulling of the cuff by inserting gussets or extra pieces of material between each sleeve and the body of the garment. These extra pieces of material are not only unsightly, they do not eliminate the problems of ride-up, bunching of material around the shoulder or pulling of the cuff when the arm is raised above the head.
Other prior art references disclose patterning top garments so that excess material is allotted in the shoulder area as well as across the chest to allow freedom of lateral or forward movement of the wearer's arms. However, no prior art reference shows a top garment which patterns each sleeve to dimensions such that when the garment is laid in a flat configuration, the sleeves can extend above the head with no distortion of the shape of the garment. The inadequacies of the prior art are overcome by the present invention which eliminates ride-up, bunching of material around the shoulder and pulling of the cuff.